Circle of Light
by Butterfly Hippie
Summary: Elizabeth McDana is Harry, Ron, and Hermione's best friend. She loves to sing, and has a beautiful voice. When she gets cancer that destroys her hearing, will Harry, Ron, and Hermione be able to help this poor girl sing again? Set in their third year.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The moonlight cast a little circle on the waters of the lake. Elizabeth slid her hand under the circle of light and watched as the water slipped through her fingers. If only she could pick up that circle of light, that circle of hope. It was drizzling, but she didn't care. All she cared about was singing.

She raised her voice to the heavens, let her voice echo through the misty fog. Soon, a figure appeared through the mist. As the figure came closer, she recognized who it was. It was Harry Potter…one of her best friends.

He plopped down, cross-legged next to her.

"I heard you singing." He said softly. Elizabeth drew her knees up and clasped her arms around them…like a frightened child. And it was true. She was frightened.

"Oh, Harry." She said, her voice shaking. "I wish this could all be a bad dream. But it's not."

Harry shut his eyes tightly and opened them again to keep intact the dam protecting the wall of tears from cascading downwards. He didn't want to think about this. About how he might lose one of his best friends in the world…to cancer. Not even to anything heroic or brave, so that he might have something to console himself. No, the thing that he might lose her to was a disease…a horrible, evil disease.

"What if, I keep thinking. What if I die? What if I leave you, Ron, Hermione…everyone who knows me…behind? What if…I can't sing anymore?" Elizabeth's frightened voice cut through the blackness behind his eyes. Harry opened his eyes and saw that tears were now cascading down his friend's face. He hugged her tightly, and remembered that morning, when life had turned into a nightmare.

_Elizabeth had looked pale that morning_. He remembered. He didn't think anything of it until later…

Memories swam through his mind…not really organized. He heard the echo of the voices in his head.

_"Riddi…Riddik..Ri…" she said shakily…her knees gave way. A loud scraping and clunking as Elizabeth collapsed to the floor. _

_"Riddikulus!" Lupin shouted…banishing the boggart. He hurried forward, kneeling at Elizabeth's side. Harry, Ron, and Hermione just stood there, scared and upset. "Get Madame Pomfrey!" Lupin shouted. Hermione, looking terrified, rushed out of the classroom and up to the hospital wing._

After that, things were all a blur. The only clear-cut memory after that was later, when Professor McGonagall told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that Madam Pomfrey wanted to see them, and led them up to the hospital wing.

_Madam Pomfrey gestured them into the hospital wing. Lying in a bed, now in a hospital gown, was Elizabeth. _

_"The reason I called you here," she said, "was because you are Elizabeth's three best friends. I have some very grave news. Elizabeth has a tumor in her brain. It's inoperable, and cancerous. There is a very good chance she will not survive."_

Now, the cool breeze breaking the flow of memories, Harry looked down and saw that Elizabeth had fallen asleep. Brushing the straight brown hair out of her face, he felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, and lying down next to his best friend, he let the dam break, and the tears started pouring down his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Harry must have cried himself to sleep. When he woke, it was dawn. Harry felt the soft tickle of dew drizzled grass against his cheek. He looked to his side and saw that Elizabeth was still asleep. He got up, brushing the dirt from his robes, and picked up his friend, cradling her in his arms.

Elizabeth didn't stir until they were back in Gryffindor Tower, and Harry was tucking her into his bed, seeing as he was not allowed in the girls dormitory.

"Harry…what happened?"

"Shh…" Harry said, pulling the covers around her. "Rest, Liz. You'll need it. I'll tell McGonagall where you are."

He hurried off to Transfiguration. When he got there, he was surprised to find he was actually early. He heard the murmur of voices from within the classroom.

"Albus…I'm worried about her. Brain cancer…how are we going to deal with that? You know there is little chance she will survive. And the care she will need…not even St. Mungo's is equipped with the kind of things she will need once her condition deteriorates…"

Another voice, Dumbledore's voice, cut in.

"Minerva…I've spoken to Poppy about it. I've also contacted St. Mungo's. The amount of equipment she would need…it would not work in the magical world. Poppy and I have agreed…the only way to keep Elizabeth alive as long as possible without suffering would be to bring her back to the Muggle world…cut her off from all things magic."

There was a pause. Then "But Albus…she knows too much. What if she lets it slip that there are still wizards right here in Britain? She _is_, only a child, still."

There was a longer pause this time, and Harry strongly suspected Dumbledore was stroking his beard, as he always did when thinking hard.

"A Memory Charm…but it would have to be highly selective. We have to leave her with the knowledge of her cancer…but without any remembrance of magic. Therefore…the best and easiest way to do this would be to leave her with the memory of magic…but have her believe it was all a highly elaborate dream."

More silence, then a whisper "The Mistain Charm?" Dumbledore must have nodded, for Professor McGonagall let a single whisper fall from her lips. "_All right._"

A minute later, Dumbledore came out of the room, his long silvery cloak swishing around his ankles. By then Ron and Hermione had arrived too, and Harry told them in a whisper what he had heard.

"They're going to banish her from the magical world just because of a medical problem?" Ron whispered, looking worried, and a little perplexed. Hermione, on the other hand was nodding slowly. "Yes…" she whispered "…yes." Harry and Ron stared at her.

"Would you mind explaining for us lower life forms?" Harry said irritably. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"See, all the usual stuff they do for a person with cancer involves electricity. And, like I've been telling you for the past three years, if you'd read _Hogwarts: A History_, you'd know that that stuff doesn't work around magical communities. And she can't keep switching back and forth from the magical world to the Muggle world for her treatments, it's too risky. What if she got really sick? Or what if the Muggles wanted to know where she lived? It'd just be too complicated…"

While Hermione continued her lecture, Harry held his head in his hands. Not only was he going to lose his best friend, but he wouldn't even be by her side if and when she died. _Life wasn't fair_, thought Harry bitterly, _not one bit._

The next day, just before dawn, Dumbledore woke Elizabeth and explained to her what was going to happen. Silent tears started streaming down her face like that night down by the lake. That night seemed so far away now.

Dumbledore handed her a small goblet filled with a few inches of a bright red potion. "This potion will make you fall into a dreamless sleep. You will be easier to handle that way, and it will postpone any awkward questioning. When you wake up, you will remember this, and everything connected with magic, as if it were a dream." Elizabeth swallowed hard, and, with a trembling hand, took the goblet and sipped its contents. Within seconds, she was fast asleep.

Dumbledore gently picked up the limp girl and cradled her in his arms. Faint streaks of light were arching over the sky by the time he reached the Leaky Cauldron. He took a deep breath. This was the last leg of the sad journey he had been forced to make. He stepped inside and walked through the deserted pub. On the other side was a deserted Muggle street, which included a hospital. The lights were still on inside, a hospital never sleeps. Dumbledore gave a long sigh and tenderly lowered Elizabeth, still in her nightgown, to the cool concrete in front of the hospital. As he did so, he was reminded of another night, twelve years ago, where he had also lowered a child to the concrete of a doorstep. Harry Potter. And as Dumbledore turned away from the small girl, it struck him that just as he had waited for the course Harry's future would take; he would also have to wait for Elizabeth's.

A/N: So how do you like my new story? Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Six months passed, and gradually most of the Gryffindors forgot about the girl named Elizabeth. Only Harry, Ron and Hermione remembered, or even cared about her and her condition anymore.

One night, Dumbledore beckoned the three of them into his office. Once the three children had settled themselves comfortably in the three chintz armchairs Dumbledore conjured with a flick of his wand, Dumbledore looked up at them all; Harry suddenly realized that he was wearing his traveling cloak.

"You remember, I'm sure, the girl we had in Gryffindor many months ago who was diagnosed with brain cancer?" Ron let out a long slow sigh, while Hermione pressed her fingers and whispered "Elizabeth." Harry, however, pushed himself to the edge of his seat.

"Is she okay? Is she..." he couldn't say it. Dumbledore looked seriously at the three friends before slowly shaking his head.

There was a sudden _whoosh_-all three of them had let out sighs of relief at the same time. Dumbledore smiled grimly.

"Yes," he said. "She is okay-for the moment. But her condition has worsened. The tumor in her brain has grown and taken over both Elizabeth's ears. She has recently lost hearing-in both ears.

There was a long pause in which the three friends tried to digest this. It was Hermione who finally broke the silence by saying timidly "Um, Professor...if Elizabeth is deaf in both ears now...does that mean she can't sing anymore?"

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "You are a smart girl, Hermione." he said quietly. "Yes, Elizabeth is unable to sing anymore, and I must say, she is quite devastated." Something clicked in Harry's head.

"Professor..." he said slowly. "Have you been visiting Elizabeth? Does she remember you? Does she..." Harry's barrage of questions was interrupted by Dumbledore, who had held up a hand to make him stop.

"I have not been visiting her yet. I have, however, been in contact with the doctors and nurses at the Muggle hospital where Miss Elizabeth currently resides. I have merely told them I am an old friend of Elizabeth, and would like periodic updates on her condition. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other, stunned and slightly confused. But before they could ask another question, Dumbledore had seized all three of them by the arm, and before they knew it, they felt like they were being squeezed through a tube.

Harry shook his head to clear his head of that uncomfortable feeling. He had a feeling that they had just Apparated. He looked around.

They were in a hospital. The walls and floor were a bright, clean white and the air smelled of disinfectant. Doctors and nurses in white lab coats were rushing around, yelling things in that secret code language doctors always seemed to have. Ron was standing next to Harry, looking bemused, while Hermione was on his other side, massaging her wrist where Dumbledore had grabbed it. Dumbledore was looking down the hall.

"Yes." he said quietly. "Yes, I think we have to go this way." And he set off down the hall abruptly, with Harry, Ron and Hermione following.

They stopped in front of a door marked 306. Dumbledore nodded slowly, his silver beard swishing, and pushed the door open.

It was a single room, with only one patient inside. A chair was set at an angle to the bed, as if there was a frequent visitor there that was only taking a break. Bags of fluid hung suspended inches belong the ceiling. Long, snakelike tubes traveled from the bags, connecting the bags with the girl on the bed. The girl's short locks of blond hair swirled around her on the bed, framing her pale face. It was Elizabeth.

Her long eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes. Her piercing blue eyes opened wide at the sight of the four of them. She pushed herself up in bed with trembling hands.

"Harry?" she whispered with awe, as if she couldn't believe her eyes. Harry merely nodded. She beckoned him closer with a shaking hand. He positioned himself awkwardly on the edge of her bed. She raised her hand weakly and felt him, as if she needed to make sure he was solid.

"I was...starting to think...you were a dream." she whispered hoarsely. "Forgive me.' Realizing in the nick of time that she couldn't hear him if he spoke, Harry conveyed his answer by encircling his arms around her. She looked up at him and he smiled.

"Um...we'll just...leave you two alone." Hermione said quickly, seizing Ron and dragging him, protesting, out the door. Dumbledore gave a cheery wave and followed them out the door, the folds of his silvery cloak swishing.

Harry looked back at Elizabeth and realized that she was crying. She saw the look of concern on his face and quietly explained.

"All I want to do is sing." she told him. "I remember singing as a distant dream, a memory. Something that I once did, and will never do again. My life is not complete without singing. In fact, before this, I was seriously considering killing myself. I mean, I'm going to die anyway."

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Elizabeth stopped him.

"Don't protest; it's true. I have brain cancer and I'm going to die. Anyway, I was planning on killing myself. But now that you and Ron and Hermione are here, I realize that I at least have _something_ to live for. You guys. And I promise you I will fight for as long as I can so that I can be near you just a little bit longer."

The tears now sliding down Harry's own face became a cascade; bending over, Harry put an arm around Elizabeth's shoulder and kissed her passionately, thinking only about how much he loved her, and yet, how little time they had left to spend together.

A/N: Since I can't bear to leave a story unfinished, I'm continuing w/ this story even though you people haven't been reviewing! I have gotten ONE review. ONE. That's pathetic. It doesn't take much to click on that little purplish button and review. Even if its only a few words. I'm having a bit of a writer's block w/ my other three stories at the moment so it may be awhile before I update those. Happy Halloween and review!


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